After two close wins against Moldova and England, Slovakia gets the gold medals. Moldova beat England 12:11 and secured silver medals, Ireland finished 4th. Home team Czechia convincingly outplayed Scotland, Wallonia and Austria and finished 5th. Saudi Arabia topped the group G and took the 9th place.
During Friday, a total of 12 matches were played to decide the final placement in groups. Among the most exciting matches were the duels between the Czech Republic and Ireland or Wallonia and Latvia. In the end, it was Ireland, England, Moldova and Slovakia who advanced to the battle for 1st to 4th place. Group F consisted of the home Czech Republic, Wallonia, Scotland and Austria. The remaining four teams (Latvia, Wales and newcomers Saudi Arabia and Estonia) made group G.
As it is already written in the perex, the medals went to national teams from Slovakia, Moldova and England. The matches between these teams offered beautiful water polo and an exciting atmosphere, especially thanks to many fans from Moldova and Slovakia. Most unlucky team of the tournament was clearly England, as they lost by a single goal to both higher ranked opponents. The driving force of the English team, Alistair Cook, was the top scorer of the tournament (24 goals) and scored a number of incredible goals (such as an unconventional power play finish with a backhand shot or lob shot from the middle of the field). The MVP award went to the Moldovan centre Alexandr Velixar, who delighted several fans in the stands with incredible individual actions. Felix Monaghan (England) was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament, making brilliant saves against Moldova and in the British derby against Ireland.
The fight for the 5th - 8th place was best managed by the home team of the Czech Republic, which defeated Austria 15:11 in the decisive match. Jakub Šubrt (23 goals) and Filip Dittmer (19 goals) were among the top 5 scorers of the tournament. The seventh place went to the Walloon team, which beat Scotland 11:9. Top goalscorer for Wallonia, Balint Toth, amazed numerous fans with his goals against Czechia and Austria. The best player for Austria was No. 4 Emir Radaslic, who tormented the opponents with 14 accurate hits.
Both newcomers to EU Nations tournaments, Saudi Arabia and Estonia, both finished in group G. Saudi Arabia managed to win this group and Estonia finished last. The decisive duel between Saudi Arabia and Latvians, which decided the top of the group, went better for the team from the Middle East. Awus Alfahemy, Saudi Arabia's top scorer, finished fifth in the top scorers' table. In contrast, Nikita Pashko, the driving force for the Latvians, fought his way up to third position with 22 goals.
Congratulations to all participants, especially those taking home the medals or individual awards. We hope you enjoyed the tournament and we look forward to seeing you again soon, either at the junior girls tournament this week or on another occasion.
